We met Carol and Ed Gulley last night at The Bog, it is always good and fun to see them. They are both dairy farmers, they work brutish days and hours, they never seem to lose their energy or humor. We are different from the Gulleys, yet so at ease with them.

They are country people, we are city people, their loves revolve around farm and family, we are both disconnected from our families. Yet we seem in so many ways to be the same. We are going to visit them and their extended family on New Year’s Eve.

Carol and Ed work side by side, all day, almost every day. Farming is difficult, milk prices have not risen in years, and small family farms struggle against regulations, corporate competition, weather and arcane pricing controls. In a sense, the Gulleys are a doomed breed and they know it, but they will hang on to the end.

Ed is exploring sculpture and other art forms and Carol is deeply into videos and writing. She is taking my writing class.

We are getting our holidays organized. We are going to see my daughter and granddaughter in New York City for two days after Christmas, we are going to run off to a nearby motel for one night just before New Years. Ed and Carol are natural writers and story-teller, they publish a lively, accessible and very authentic blog, the Bejosh Farm Journal.

Check it out. How nice to make such good friends.